Package Deal: Picture Book Biographies
Two Masters Talk Art & Craft of Writing Picture Book Biographies
Having a difficult time choosing between these equally amazing webinars on writing picture book biographies? Fear not! Now you can get both for 25% off the price of purchasing each individually. Full curriculum from both courses is included.
The Nuts and Bolts of Picture Book Biographies
Multi award-winning picture book biographer Jen Bryant gives a comprehensive lesson on how to write a standout picture book biography, including:
- How to choose a subject
- Do you need permission from your subject (or their estate)?
- How to choose an angle or focus for your biography
- Best tips for researching your subject
- How to write an emotional arc that's also factual
Picture Book Biography Toolbox: What You Need to Know When You Dig Into Someone Else's Story
Many authors find the idea of writing a picture book biography intimidating, but author and Writing Barn Founder Bethany Hegedus has cracked the code. She shares her secrets from the experience of writing three PB bios published, with three more under contract. In this webinar, you will learn:
- A powerful exercise to help you uncover what subjects YOU were born to write about. This exercise will change the way you view ALL of your writing.
- The ins and outs of research and resources.
- What to do if there is another book in the marketplace about your subject.
- How to utilize page turns in picture book biographies.
- Permissions: when and how do you get family or estate involvement.
- Plus much more!
Your Instructor
Jen Bryant writes picture books, novels and poems for readers of all ages. Her most recent biography, Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille, illustrated by Boris Kulikov, won the ALA Schneider Family Book Award for ages 0-10.
Her biography A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, received a Caldecott Honor. Their second collaboration A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, won the ALA Schneider Family Book Award for ages 0-10, the Orbus Pictus award, was named a Sibert Honor Book, received four starred reviews and is a Junior Library Guild Selection. Their third collaboration, The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus, received a Caldecott Honor and The Sibert Medal and was an Orbis Pictus Honor Book.
Jen’s novel in verse RINGSIDE 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial is an Oprah Recommended Book for ages 12 & up. Other titles include Pieces of Georgia (IRA Young Adult Choices Pick), The Trial (1935 Lindbergh kidnapping trial, a Borders New Voices Pick), Kaleidoscope Eyes (a 1960’s–era novel, a Junior Library Guild Selection), The Fortune of Carmen Navarro (Paterson Prize for Young People), Georgia’s Bones, celebrating the life of artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and Music for the End of Time, based on a true WWII story.
Jen has a BA from Gettysburg College, an MA from Arcadia University, and an Honorary Doctorate from Gettysburg College. She has taught writing and Children’s Literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College and gives school and public lectures throughout the year. She lives with her family in Chester County, PA. When she’s not writing or taming the piles on her desk, Jen enjoys visiting museums, swimming, cycling, listening to music and cheering wildly for the Phillies.
Bethany Hegedus' books include the award-winning Grandfather Gandhi and the newly released Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story, both co-written with Arun Gandhi, grandson to the Mahatma and illustrated by Evan Turk.
Bethany writes about the South in her picture book Alabama Spitfire: The Story of Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird and her middle grade novels Truth with a Capital Tand Between us Baxters. Her novels are known for gracefully handling issues of race, class, and cross-group friendships.
A graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults, Bethany is prior editor of the literary journal Hunger Mountain. Bethany is the Owner and Creative Director of The Writing Barn, a writing retreat, workshop and event space in Austin, Texas.
She has sat on panels with Ilyasha Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter, and Arun Gandhi, grandson to the Mahatma. A former educator, Bethany is an in-demand presenter and she speaks and teaches across the country.
Courses Included with Purchase
Original Price: $134
Frequently Asked Questions
Don't wait to jumpstart your picture book biography writing. Grab this amazing deal today.